Paul Keep: Why we endorse political candidates

File PhotoThe Grand Rapids Press endorses candidates because we want you to go to the polls as informed as possible on Nov. 4 - whether you agree with our endorsement or not.

The question didn't shock me. I would have been more surprised if it hadn't been asked.

"How does the paper decide on its political endorsements?"

It's a timely question as election day is just 16 days away and The Press' editorial board has been making known its choices in key races, locally and statewide.

And even though newspapers have been doing this for longer than any of us have been alive, I think the process is worth talking about again because it seems to be misunderstood by a lot of people.

You've got those who seek the editorial board's endorsement, seeing it as a political advantage. You've got those who agree or disagree with the choice and then throw around words like "biased" and "unfair" as if an opinion isn't almost by definition both of those things to some degree. And you've got those who don't believe the paper should make a choice at all because this somehow taints the electoral process.

Into this fray innocently stepped a member of this year's Inside Grand Rapids class, a Chamber of Commerce program designed to help develop young leaders.

But he is not alone.

Typical are the following snippets of feedback I have received recently as readers reacted to endorsements.

"The GR Press is a liberal publication in a conservative area," said Roger Dyke of Allendale. "Hire more conservative writers."

Stan Roth of Jenison wrote: "I am not surprised that you endorsed both (Republicans Bill) Huizenga and (Justin) Amash to serve as representatives for the better off in our communities. I am not surprised but I could not believe how you dissed the candidacy of (Democrat) Fred Johnson for the 2nd congressional district... To say nothing of Fred other than he was a candidate with a few others from minor parties was an outright insult."

I always feel good when the editorial board's stances are criticized by readers on both sides of the political spectrum.

And one can always count on sharp rebukes from Internet commenters on Mlive.com after the endorsement editorials are posted there.

"Once again, the Press endorses Republicans," wrote goblue70. "They need to stop endorsing candidates. It's not their job. This is becoming a major joke. I wonder who is telling the editorial board who to endorse?"

(My belief is that endorsing candidates prompts healthy debate about the choices people face on vital issues. In an era of embarrassingly low voter turnout, ending endorsements makes no sense to me. We should encourage more civic talk, not discourage it.)

"The Press always endorses Republicans," wrote getagrip101. "I relocated to GR three years ago and have been appalled at the editorials and one-sided, lopsided views of The Press."

(While I think it is fair to say that in partisan races, the Press' editorial board is center-right in its general philosophy -- as is the majority of Americans -- we have indeed endorsed Democrats.)

"What a joke. The Editorial Board has zero credibility," wrote saginawress.

(I suspect what actually bothers this person is that the editorial board does have credibility. Otherwise, its endorsements wouldn't matter, would they?)

There are a couple of key points to understand.

The editorial board -- made up of the paper's publisher, editor and editorial page editor -- make endorsement decisions after a lot of research and discussion, usually involving face-to-face talks with candidates. Newsroom reporters and editors are not part of this process and work hard to cover all races as objectively as possible regardless of the editorial board's decision.

Because of our credibility, the editorial board gets access to candidates that most voters never get. We feel a duty to share that insight.

Finally, the motivation behind endorsing is our interest -- and the community's interest -- in helping the best candidates get elected because that's how progress is made. That's our only special interest. Is that so hard to understand?